Friday, April 11, 2008

Farewell Bnews

I’m sorry to tell you all that I have decided to leave Bnews. I will of course continue to write for the gay media as a freelancer.

I have greatly enjoyed my time as Editor of Melbourne Star and then as News Editor of Bnews (following the Star’s closure), and the success and recognition that came with the job.

I won the Rainbow Award for Outstanding Media Achievement in 2005 (given for my current affairs program, the Rainbow Report, on Joy 94.9) around the time I joined the paper.

Then late last year the Victorian Aids Council honoured me for my reporting on AIDS-related issues (in print and on radio), and in particular the Michael Neal case.

Together these awards make wonderful bookends to my time at Bnews.

Since the closure of Melbourne Star, Bnews has tried to blend serious news and current affairs into what is essentially a lifestyle and entertainment magazine, so as to continue to provide quality GLBTI-focused news and current affairs reporting to the community.

I am immensely proud of what we achieved in this regard, thanks to the hard work and dedication of my colleagues, editor Cathy Anderson and entertainment editor Daren Pope, aka Kaye Sera.

However, mainstream print media now cover GLBTI issues on a regular basis. And people with an interest in news and current affairs increasingly turn to radio, television and the internet. These are now the main media through which to reach them and where I need to focus my attention for the future

Under new dynamic and forward-looking management, Joy is re-energised, its news and current affairs coverage growing and developing. The Rainbow Report is growing along with it, and will need more of my attention as podcasts, webcasts and satellite distribution come onstream.

New internet opportunities have become available, and I am actively pursuing some exciting developments in GBLTI news & current affairs online.

And another of my interests, the ChillOut Festival, continues to generate new and surprising possibilities. We have just had our first board meeting for ChillOut 2009, building on our great success this year. The festival is evolving in fresh and exciting directions. This will require an even greater level of commitment from me.

These new challenges are incompatible with what is in practice a more than full-time editorial position, which increasingly encroaches on my limited free time. So I have decided to drop Bnews from my portfolio.

Meanwhile I wish everyone at Bnews the best of luck for the future. And thanks to everyone in the community for your support over the years.

Doug


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